Equine Programs

The Signature Seminars®
Unique Equine-Facilitated Programs

The programs run by Drs. Allan & Jane Hamilton have been featured on Arizona Highways, ABC News, PBS, and CNN and has been written about and featured in Western Horseman, Horse & Rider, and Equus magazines. The Hamiltons have facilitated equine clinics in the United States and abroad, and have been selected as keynote speakers for the Annual Gathering on Equine-Assisted Learning and Equine-Assisted Mental Health Best Practices. The spiritual and scientific principles used in all equine-facilitated programs are the focus of a documentary film by Emmy and Oscar-nominated film director Wayne Ewing, released in 2013, Playing with Magic.

Facilitators

Dr. Allan Hamilton is a renowned horse trainer and author. He has been featured at national venues and has participated numerous times as a featured presenter and trainer at Equine Affaire. Both he and his wife were recruited to help evaluate and train horses from the National Stud of the Republic of Ireland and the Racing Academy and Centre of Education in County Kildare, Ireland. Both of them were invited to address a joint session of both houses of the Irish Parliament on the rehabilitation and rescue of Thoroughbred horses from the racing industry which is supported by the government with tax revenues derived from legalized betting. They have also been advocates for the preservation of wild mustangs in the US and safeguarding of their natural habitats throughout the West.

Dr. Jane F. Hamilton is a licensed clinical psychologist, instructor, and psychotherapist. She obtained her PhD in Psychology from Boston College and her Master’s Degree from Harvard University. She has been a practicing psychologist since 1981. She completed a clinical internship in Psychology at Boston Children’s Hospital. She maintains a clinical private practice where she provides counseling, therapy, assessment, consultation, supervision, training, and continuing education. She teaches college and graduate level classes in Psychology, Sociology, Professional Development, and Criminal Counseling. She is certified for Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) and focuses her talents on the emotional and psychological aspects of the EAP programs.

When human beings interact with horses, they are drawing on right-brain intuitive and emotional capabilities rather than the language, verbally dominant abilities of left cerebral hemispheres.

These programs are based on the award-winning book Zen Mind, Zen Horse: The Science and Spirituality of Working with Horses, by Allan J. Hamilton, MD,which was awarded the Nautilus Gold Award for spiritual works of non-fiction”that change the world one book at a time.”

1. Lead with Your Heart: Lessons From a Life with Horses

This program takes working with and relating to horses to the next level—true partnership and bonding. Your horse already knows how to be a horse. What he’s waiting for is: Do you know how to be the leader he needs? What holds our horse back is not him. It’s always us. It always comes down to the obstacles and boundaries we create for ourselves. So, advanced horsemanship is about working on enhanced awareness of how we sabotage our relationship with our horse and how we can begin to get better results with less frustration. It will bring greater joy and fulfillment to both you and your equine partner.

This program puts an emphasis on getting participants to interact with horses in a unique supervised one-on-one session under the tutelage of Dr. Allan Hamilton. It also includes didactic seminar-style classroom work and group processing under the supervision of Dr. Jane Hamilton to help underscore the science behind the Neuro-Equine Model® and how to apply it in our partnership with horses and in our broader context of our lives in general.

3. Zen Mind, Zen Horse: The Spiritual Lessons That Horses Bring to Life

This program explores the spiritual and mindful concepts horses can help to teach us. Dynamic didactic seminar sessions clarify the science behind the unique opportunities and abilities horses offer human beings to see spiritual guidelines at work.

4. A Hero’s Journey with the Help of Horses

This course uses principles from Joseph Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces and asks us to become the heroes of our own spiritual journeys. The seminar includes immersive, interactive, didactic sessions as well as work with horses in the round pen and arena.

5. From Barnyard to Boardroom: Learning the Power of Nonverbal Communication in Business

Effective communicators and negotiators learn to use and interpret body language cues. Through specially designed equine facilitated activities, participants explore nonverbal communication within business and corporate settings. It was developed in conjunction with faculty from the Eller MBA Program and Eller College of Management or the University of Arizona.

In collaboration with the University’s of Arizona’s College of Medicine, Dr. Hamilton has developed the world’s first and premiere program using equine facilitated resources for healthcare professionals to enhance communication and improve bedside manner. The program has now been reproduced in medical schools in the United States and around the world.

7. Cancer Warriors: Learning to Fight Cancer on Your Own Terms and Win!

This program explores the emotional and spiritual principles that can assist individuals in their personal journeys to integrate cancer care, cure, and survival into their way of life, their way of seeing, and their way of being. The program focuses on the emotional, psychic, and spiritual issues that surround struggling with cancer.

In round pen and arena sessions, participants will explore the features to look for when choosing a horse for equine facilitated programs. Further activities address “making the most of the horse you’ve got.” Participants will learn to assess horses as they work in the round pen and the arena. The program will use multiple horses for each participant to enhance each participant’s ability to quickly assess a horse’s suitability for a particular session and how to quickly and fluidly develop strategies to work with a horse’s personality rather than fight it.

Any of the Signature Seminars® can be brought to your facility and customized to meet the needs of your program.

Equine programs are tailored to meet the needs of the individual participants, and are suitable for both therapeutic and educational purposes. All courses are available in a single-day, two-day, or three-day format. The equine-assisted programs offered by Drs. Hamilton have been featured in such publications as Western Horseman, Equus, Practical Horseman, Spirituality and Health, as well as on PBS, CNN, and NBC television.